(Flag) — Commemorative Thirteen-Star Flag | Pre-Civil War, Thirteen-Star Flag of the United States, from the collection of Charles Kuralt

Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation

(Flag) — Commemorative Thirteen-Star Flag

Pre-Civil War, Thirteen-Star Flag of the United States. Maker unknown, ca. 1840–1850

Hand-sewn single-appliqué cotton stars and wool bunting stripes on cotton canvas-type hoist (619 x 1450 mm), the stars arranged in a pattern that consists of two lineal rows of six with a single star to one side, offset; some minor, expected fraying and wear. Matted, framed, and glazed with Plexiglas. 

A striking and handsome pre-Civil War flag with an unusual elongated form. The flag has an interesting provenance, having been presented to the television journalist Charles Kuralt on his twenty-fifth anniversary with CBS. A plaque on the frame commemorates the occasion: "Charles Kuralt | This Unique Symbol of America's Beginnings to the Broadcaster Who has so Uniquely Distilled Its Essence for so Many Millions of Americans. | The CBS Radio Network September 1982."

Kuralt was involved in broadcasting and journalism as a schoolboy and later at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joining CBS in 1957. He was the host of the Eyewitness to History series and later led CBS News Sunday Morning, but Kuralt is best remembered for his long-running feature "On the Road," a homespun look at America and Americans.